The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1887-04-09
FROM EASTERN MAINE.
The Hard Experience Of Lumbermen
the Past Season.
The Ice Business on the Penobscot
River.
Matters OF Interest About the Queen
City and Its People.

BANGOR, April 7.
''This has been one Of the very hardest win
ters for the lumber business in the history
of the State" is what prominent lumber
man Of long experience said TO your CORES
pondent day or two since. The testimony
Of many other lumbermen with whom have
talked is to the same effect. A gentleman
who is well informed says the cut of lumber
for the past season in the Eastern and
Northern parts Of the State will be only
about IS to 70 per cent. Of the amount which
it was planned to haul last fall. 1t has been
winter when one snow storm has followed
another in rapid succession until at the pres
ent time the depth Of snow in the woods is
from six TO seven feet on level. The ex-
perience Of woodsmen has been hard one,
but the reports in many of the papers have
been greatly exaggerated. For instance ru-
mors that many horses have been killed be-
cause they could not be driven out Of the
woods, or because hay and grain could not be
obtained, have no foundation in fact In
some cases firms have been out of hay for
three or four days at time, and this has
made il necessary TO suspend work for the
time being, but our lumbermen are not Of
that class Of men who let horses starve, be-
cause II 1t was necessary hay and grain
could be hauled to them on hand sleds, and
in some cases this has been done.
The great difficulty in getting supplies to
the camps has been one reason which has in
creased the expense of the winters lumber
operations. 1t has taken, am informed,
double the number of men and horses to car
ry on this branch Of the business that it does
in the average year. This has of course
greatly increased the expense and made an
extra burden for the operators.
There has been great deal Of trouble in
many cases TO get horses out Of the woods
from the fact that the ''t0te" roads were so
narrow that many horses cannot follow the
track. In some instances roads have been
shoYeled for miles, and in few cases horses
have been put onto sleds and hauled for
some distance by the men. AS usual during
a hard winter some horses have died in the
woods, either from the effect Of disease or
injuries.
So far as the men are concerned, there has
been no suffering. The lumber camps of today
are well built, warm, and supplied with
plenty OF provisions. Lumbermen as a rule
plan to get their supplies into the woods be-
fcre the deep SHOWS come, and thus are pre-
pared for exigencies which may arise. The
difficulty the past season has been that the
storms came so early in the season. One
man tells me that for three weeks it showed
half Of the time, and that it was necessary,
in order to keep at work, to shovel out his
main logging road. AS has been already
stated, the depth of snow in the woods Is
from six to seven feet. Two feet from the
ground there is solid packing of ice, and so
there is every reason to believe that there
will be favorable season for driving the
lumber, as the snow win probably melt
gradually and thus keep the streams and
rivers at good driving.pitch.
There is no cloud that does not have a sill
yer lining, and the lumbermen have one
thing to encourage them after their. rough
experience. The supply Of logs which will
be got to the market will be smaller than
usual, and prices in consequence will be
higher. AS usual, there are great many
old logs back which were ''hung up" as the
lumbermen say. :fhese will no doubt be got
to market, and help supply the demand.
After taking the most favorable view Of
the lumber business OF the past season, il
can be said, and with truth, that the win
ter has been the hardest Tor many years. AS
an illustration of this fact 1t may be stated
that in seven days two feet Of snow fell, and
all this time the wind was blowing blizzard.
But as veteran lumberman remarked to
your correspondent, the experiences which
operators in the woods now have to encoun-
ter are simply nothing to what they were %
years ago. just see what the facilities for
getting supplies to the woods now are.
why" said he when Col. John Goddard,
who was formerly of Portland, numbered
down east all Of his supplies were hauled
from Bangor on wagons drawn by oxen, or
else were taken up the river in batteaux. 1t
then took several days to transport goods
distances which can now be traversed by
means Of the cars in as many hours"
The winter in Eastern Maine has indeed
been rough one. Country roads have been
may be said that the most important stage
route in Eastern Maine-that from Malta
wamkeag TO Patten-f0r six weeks has been
impossible, and the mails, when they were
carried at all, were hauled on hand sleds.
Part Of this stage route has been aban-
60np1 and will not hQ ugpH aOain until tho
flowers bloom in May. Old weather proph-
cts believe there will be an early spring.
On account of the great depth Of the snow
there Is but little frost in the ground, and the
Ice Is thin on the streams, lakes and rivers.
THE RAILROADS.
notwithstanding all the rough storms Of
the winter, and consequently the great depth
of snow II is a remarkable fact that the trains
of the Maine Central have been but little
delayed. The hardest experience the Maine
Central has had was in the storm Of last
Saturday and Sunday, when the train from
Portland to Bangor was snow bound for ten
hours, and the eastward bound train was
stuck in a snow drift near Burnham fourteen
hours. The Maine Central with its splendid
rolling stock, and under its able and ener-
getic management Is one of the best rail lines
in New England, and can cope even with
the rlg0rs OF a severe winter, the like Of
which even the Oldest person in MAINE does
not remember.
The New Brunswick railroad, too, under
the management Of Mr.. Frank w. Cram, for
merly of the European and North American
and the Maine Central has been remarkably
succe ssful, and the most Of the time trips
have been made ON time. The same may
also be said Of the Bangor and Piscataquls
road.
THE ICE CROP.
The Ice crop on the Penobscot has been
gathered, and the amount is li72,OOo tons, as
compared with $4,000 tons on the Kennebec.
The names Of the companies in his city. and
the amount in tons eachhvae housed, follow
Penobseot River Company ................. $4,000
katahdn ........................... 10000